In a learning organization, growth, learning, improvement, and everlasting experimentation are woven into its culture and employees not in a perpetual state of change will be unable to cope. Mentors can assist by finding a teachable moment, providing support without rescuing, and demonstrating authenticity, not perfection. JOW)

In mentoring, individual, group, or organizational issues may arise, and mentors must discern the difference in order to tailor interventions accordingly. An important dynamic is the unconscious: what individuals or organizations are unaware that they are communicating. (SK)

Comparison of 62 unemployed participants in occupational skills/personal development training with 71 controls on the course waiting list showed that participation had an immediate effect on well-being and improved self-confidence about getting work. A supportive and encouraging training environment was associated with improved well-being. (SK)

The phenomenon of creativity is so prevalent and yet so ill-defined. After examining several definitions, this author posits that creativity is a natural process in which humans use their physical, intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual resources to produce something new. Creativity seems to satisfy a deep fundamental yearning to go beyond…

Values Scale results were compared for 152 nursing and 111 management undergraduates. Personal development and altruism were most important for nursing students, who had significantly lower means than the management sample on a t-test for lifestyle, advancement, autonomy, authority, creativity, economic, and risk values. (SK)

Of 15 older learners who kept a journal or diary, a few had started diary keeping in adolescence or young adulthood. Their current practices varied in terms of time, method, and type of writing. Most linked journals with other writing practices. Writing helped them cope with daily life, experience the joy of discovery, and nurture voice and…

Presents three renowned writers who have chosen from diverse genres to tell immigrant tales through memoir, contemporary vignettes, and historical fiction. Notes that each author captures very real adolescent voices and their stories. Discusses Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes," An Na's "A Step form Heaven," and Norma Fox…

Considers that because literature can exert such a powerful hold on the imagination, certain works can be used to invite students to become more literate and to encourage students to take responsibility for their ongoing personal development. Notes that reading and other ways of learning are shown in fictional works of Louis L'Amour to be a rich…

As an outgrowth of the theory of flow, looks at some fine distinctions regarding the adolescent's optimal conditions for growth. Points to the importance of the adolescent's ability to reinterpret conflicts which crop up in raw experience, to overcome psychic entropy with long-term challenges or "life themes," and to find new meaning and…

Examines the role attributed to cultural mediation in Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories. Mediation of human action by cultural artifacts was central to Vygotsky's account of human development, but less important for Piaget. Vygotsky's claims regarding social origins of individual mental processes need to be understood in light of claims regarding…

Piaget's theory has been characterized as descriptive and not explanatory, not qualifying as causal explanation. Piaget was consistent in showing how his theory was both explanatory and causal. Vygotsky also endorsed causal-genetic explanation but, on the basis of knowledge of only Piaget's earliest works, he claimed that Piaget's theory was not…

The Youth Leadership and Life Skills Development Scale was completed by 282 of 316 Iowa Future Farmers of America (FFA) members. The strongest relationship appeared between their scores and FFA leadership activities. Other factors affecting life/leadership skills development included after-school jobs, years in FFA, grades, and gender. (SK)

An interview with Vladimir Feltsman, a piano virtuoso and educational innovator, covers his views on development of musical talent in Russia, identification of talent in children, his training at a special music school, his mentors, choosing a musical career, the ideal school for young musicians, and the maximum age for beginning to develop…

Notes nursing education is supposed to facilitate both personal and professional development, but inattention to self-assessment limits the former. Problems with self-assessment include conflicts between student self-ratings and teacher evaluations of students, focus on professional demands instead of the whole person, and differences in…

Generalizes the corporate mission, values, strategy, tactics model and applies it to basic personal life questions based on experiences at the Performance Development group of Walgreens. (Author/LRW)